Pamoja Mtaani (Together in the Hood)

The game is designed for young people between 15 and 19 and focuses on 5 key HIV prevention behaviours: delaying sexual debut, abstinence, avoiding multiple partners, correct and consistent condom use, and uptake of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Players assume the identity of 1 of 5 characters who find themselves car-jacked in a matatu (minibus taxi) and attempt to recover their stolen goods and save an injured woman. Through a series of sub-plots, the players are put into situations where the decisions they make can either put them at risk of contracting HIV or help to prevent it.

The game combines messaging designed to change behaviours with traditional game elements, including a captivating storyline, mission assignments, and mini-games - from pool to something similar to the popular "Guitar hero". The game simulates a number of different areas in Nairobi, including the downtown centre and the outlying slums. Players work through these various neighbourhoods to uncover barriers and discover facilitators to behaviour change. Local hip-hop artists provide a local, urban soundtrack, and the characters in the game speak Sheng, a mixture of Swahili and English commonly used by urban youth. At each community site hosting the game, "girls only" times are established to ensure that girls have access to the game.

Click here to download the game from the HIV Free Generation website.

HIV/AIDS, Youth

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recently gave Warner Bros Entertainment a business excellence award for Pamoja Mtaani. Kenya's national HIV/AIDS strategy considers youth aged between 15 and 24 "most-at-risk". Young women have an HIV prevalence of 6.1%, four times higher than their male counterparts. Studies have shown that, although knowledge of HIV/AIDS among youth is high, many young people continue to engage in risky behaviours, such as having multiple sexual partners and using condoms inconsistently.